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With Laguna Seca being the penultimate race of the season and five drivers contending for the IndyCar championship, Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session was shaping up to be important and stressful. Although both championship contenders qualified for the final round of qualifying, they both experienced serious problems along the way. This allowed Colton Herta to take pole position, his second pole at Laguna Seca in as many years.
Qualifying group 1: Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson, Sébastien Bourdais, Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Jimmi Johnson, Romain Grosjean, Josef Newgarden, Takuma Sato
Go forward: Colton Herta, Graham Rahal, Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson, Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon
The first qualifying group was key, with four of the five big contenders for the championship on track. Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was not one of those championship contenders, but Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson would proceed to Fast 12.
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Qualifying group 2: Alexander Rossi, Alex Palou, James Hinchcliffe, Oliver Askew, Ed Jones, Will Power, Max Chilton, Scott McLaughlin, Conor Daly, Helio Castroneves, Callum Ilott, Jack Harvey, Dalton Kellett, Rinus Veekay
Go forward: Oliver Askew, Alexander Rossi, Max Chilton, James Hinchcliffe, Alex Palou
The big name of this second qualification group was Alex Palou, current championship leader. He would have a lot less stress to take the next step than his other championship competitors because he was the only one in the top five. contender for the championship in this session.
That said, it was an uncomfortably tight session for Palou, who almost got knocked down by a hungry Conor Daly but just managed to hold onto that sixth place. Palou had grown a little too impatient in his warm knees, wasting time squirming.
Rapid Fire Stone 12: Colton Herta, Graham Rahal, Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson, Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon, Oliver Askew, Alexander Rossi, Max Chilton, James Hinchcliffe, Alex Palou
Go forward: Colton Herta, Will Power, Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward
The pressure seemed to weigh on the two leaders of the championship. Palou locked the front tires several times, and O’Ward did the same, which left him running into dirt with a blockage. It was interesting to watch, especially since both drivers were having issues on what technically should have been their laps.
The two drivers continued to struggle; Palou gave up on a flying round that looked promising. O’Ward had an ominous moment where he almost left the track again, but it briefly put him at the top of the charts. Palou quickly followed to the top – and several other drivers quickly pushed O’Ward out of the top six.
With just 45 seconds remaining, Graham Rahal spun and stalled the car, but managed to keep going, even though he did impact Scott Dixon’s lap.
O’Ward had a good lap after the checkered flag, but managed to keep it in the top six. Championship contenders Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson failed to qualify in the top six.
The results were however being examined, after the pirouette of Rahal.
Firestone 6 quick start: Colton Herta, Will Power, Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward
Once again, Palou lost his red tires, which saw him give up a quick lap. And again, O’Ward lost control and spun into the Corkscrew, forcing him out of his quick lap. Colton Herta did a quick lap, taking pole positionn in Laguna Seca for the second time.
O’Ward’s rotation took him from fifth to sixth, and Will Power lost his second place to Alexander Rossi..
Complete starting grid
- Colton Herta
- Alexandre rossi
- Will
- Alex Palou
- Oliver askew
- Pato O’Ward
- Marcus Ericsson
- Scott Dixon
- Simon pagenaud
- Max Chilton
- Simon pagenaud
- Max Chilton
- James hinchcliffe
- Graham rahal
- Romain Grosjean
- Ed jones
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Scott McLaughlin
- Josef newgarden
- Conor Daly
- Ryan hunter-reay
- Jack Harvey
- Sebastien Bourdais
- Helio Castronèves
- Takuma Sato
- Rinus Veekay
- Jimmie johnson
- Callum ilott
- Dalton had to
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